Name

Grade/Content
School

Jennifer Chalmers
7th grade Reading
Freedom Prep Middle School

Working vision: Starting point

My vision is that the scholars in my classes will be empowered to think critically about the world around them through
their literary analysis and writing skills. Their work in my class will give them the tools and practice they need to
challenge societal norms, develop an unrelenting drive for personal growth, and make their voices heard. It is my vision
that my scholars will learn how to make positive impact on their own lives and communities through my class.
My mission for this year is to foster a community of excellence in my classroom and among all the teachers and scholars
of Freedom Prep, where excellence is paying attention to details and working harder than everyone else. This means
that my scholars and I all practice sweating (and critically analyzing) the small stuff. It also means that we strive to work
harder than seems possible. This way, even when we have moments of failure, we are first consoled by the knowledge
that we have tried and will continue to try our very best, and we are then driven by our confidence that we will improve
because we will never stop trying our very best. My scholars and I will grow by first reflecting on our successes and areas
for improvement every day and then responding to our results by making at least one informed, purposeful change
every day.
To achieve a community of excellence, I will hold myself and my scholars to my high expectations 100% of the time to
consistently demonstrate that I believe in the excellence of my scholars, the excellence of Freedom Prep culture and
expectations, and the excellence of the achievement that will come from working together in this community. In this
community of excellence, scholars will believe in their own success because they will see it in their behaviors and their
academic results.

PART ONE: RESEARCH AND REFLECTION GUIDE

Community
What are you learning about your schools community (opportunities, assets, community organizations and leaders?
What kinds of knowledge and skills are valued in the community?
Who are the people in your community with whom you can partner to provide you with the insights or resources you
and your kids need to reach your vision?
People to help you answer the
Questions you might want to ask to help
Resources you can access to help
above questions
answer the questions above
answer the questions above
Parents of your students; veteran
What do you like about living here/working
School websites
teachers at your school,
here?
Camden and Trenton city
administrators (principal, assistant
What do kids do after school for fun?
websites
principal, academic
Who are the community leaders?
advisors/coaches), local community Who do our kids most look up to in this
Camden:
organizations (TeenSHARP,
community?
CamConnect.org
Sophisticated Sisters, Boys and Girls What outside organizations work with our
District Council Collaborative
Club, North Camden Little
students and/or families?
Board websites
League),religious groups
What most holds our kids back from being
more successful?
To become more familiar with my schools community, I first learned about Camden from my principal, who is originally
from Camden and who cares deeply about the city, during Summer professional development. That inspired me to
become more in tune with daily news in Camden, so I downloaded and began to follow the Courier-Post app, which tells

local news.
I also took opportunities to volunteer with my school and with Teach For America at various locations in Camden,
including pulling weeds on a baseball diamond and cleaning for the Heart of Camden. When school started, I quickly
began getting to know my scholars outside of the classroom. I took opportunities to meet and talk with parents when I
brought scholars outside at the end of the day, and I also volunteered my time to help scholars after school and even
drive them home when their parents could not. In doing so, I learned about and drove through more of Camden and
gained experience with the city. Finally, I joined a scholar vs. teacher basketball game at the Heart of Camden
gymnasium and used the opportunity to chat with and learn from parents on the sidelines.
Through these and other experiences, I understand that education, earning money to take care of ones family, and
respect are at the top of scholars and parents priority lists. By partnering with parents and DREAM coaches (who
handle discipline at my school), I am working to teach my scholars to act respectfully towards themselves and others
and helping them to get their education so that they can find the success they deserve and the success their parents
want for them. Some of the most valuable resources that I have discovered, which can help my scholars to reach my
vision, are the Heart of Camden (who frequently allows Freedom Prep scholars to use its gymnasium) and local
universities like Rutgers and UPenn (who encourage scholars to pursue college). Finally, scholars parents have been
extremely valuable because of the way my scholars care about pleasing them. Their respect for their families and
parents is unparalleled, and the partnership that I have begun to form with some of my scholars parents has been
invaluable for helping scholars reach my vision.
Vision of Excellence for Academic Achievement
Why does your academic content matter in the short and long-term?
What knowledge, skills, and mindsets do students need to master in order to break down academic, racial, and
socioeconomic barriers AND have access to their dreams and ambitions?
What assessment(s) are kids required to take at your school? How do you know that they are rigorous enough?
What will it mean for a childs future if they master that assessment? Whats at stake if they dont?
People to help you answer the
Questions you might want to ask to help
Resources you can access to help
above questions
answer the questions above
answer the questions above
Your content leaders, veteran
Above questions, plus:
School websites
teachers, TFA CMs and alum,
What is one example of a really rigorous
NJ Department of Education site
administrators at your school,
assessment for my grade level? Where can I TFA Assessment Google Site
teachers and administrators from
find it?
high-performing NJ schools, TFA
What is an example of an assessment that
staff
students in high-performing schools take?
Where can I find it?
What assessments really matter for my
students (required for
graduation/promotion, SAT/ACT)
Short Term
My academic content matters in the short term in a number of ways. First, the spoken and written communication
and analysis skills that scholars learn in Freedom Prep Middle School reading and writing classes allows them to make a
positive and lasting first impression on those whom they come in contact with. They learn to converse professionally in
a way that demonstrates their consideration and respect for their peers, using habits of discussion like, I agree with my
peer ______, and I would like to add on and I heard what my peer _______ said, and I would like to respectfully
disagree. Habits such as these demonstrate above average maturity from scholars in 7th grade and immediately
indicate to strangers that Camden children are on the path to college. FPMSs stress on clear, mature, respectful
communication helps my scholars lead the next generation of their community toward breaking down academic, racial,
and socioeconomic barriers and gaining access to their dreams and ambitions not only those of FPMS scholars but also
of the entire city of Camden.
Additionally, short term assessments such as the Freedom Interim Assessments (FIAs), which are taken every six
weeks, and slightly longer term annual state assessments, NJ ASK and PARCC require specific sets of knowledge, skills,
and mindsets that my scholars will have to develop in order to reach my vision. Not only do scholars need to master

knowledge-based skills like making inferences, determining vocabulary through context clues, recognizing main idea and
details, and analyzing theme, but they also need a specific set of other skills to succeed in state tests as well. Scholars
must know how to approach multiple choice questions, how to construct open ended responses, and how to actively
read and annotate texts. Scholars must build stamina for long tests and develop a growth mindset regarding their
scores. They must be able to persevere through difficult tests. Finally, scholars must also learn to use the computer and
type, as PARCC will be a computerized test.
If scholars do well on this assessment, it will be valuable for them and for future middle school scholars in Camden. For
my scholars, success on assessments earns them access to the resources and respect that middle school students
receive around the country. Success will also build confidence for future tests and for high school performance. With
success in school moving forward, my scholars will receive more attention from colleges and will have a greater chance
of receiving the funding they need once they are accepted. On the other hand, if scholars do not succeed on NJ ASK and
PARCC, they will not earn the respect they deserve for their hard work, and they may not be seen as deserving of the
same educational resources, which as absurd inequity in the United States. There may also be further negative
consequences for my school as a whole if we do not increase scores on state tests. There is a lot at stake; my scholars
must demonstrate that they are improving. Finally, my scholars future happiness and freedom to choose their own jobs
and lives is at stake. If they do not receive the education they deserve, they cannot go to college, and they will have far
fewer options for the career they have and the place they choose to live. They may be unable to have the same great
impact on their city as they wish to have.

Critical Consciousness
What opportunities exist or do not exist for students growing up in your school community?
What systemic injustices exist that impact your students ability to be successful?
What does the birdcage of oppression (Marilyn Frye, The Politics of Reality) look like for your students?
What entities, laws, programs, falsehoods, or services form the wires of the cage that traps your students and their
families?
What issues must students approach with a critical eye in order to maneuver their way to success?
People to help you answer the
Questions you might want to ask to help
Resources you can access to help
above questions
answer the questions above
answer the questions above
Administration at your school,
Above questions, plus:
Local newspapers, local news,
community members, parents,
Survey questions from Appendix A
local events, TFA required and
parent liaisons and your school
optional prework readings,
counselor
student and family surveys
Access to internet and computers is one of the biggest injustices and missing opportunities for my scholars. They miss
out on the independent research opportunities that many middle school students in this country have. Their parents
also work tirelessly and have little time or expendable resources for their children. As a result, scholars must live every
day with the knowledge that they do not have the same privilege as people in the next town. They must live with the
institutionalized racism that keeps them in a failing school district.
To maneuver their way to success, my scholars must overcome the way that their schools have allowed them to fall
behind. They must also learn to fit in in a very specific educational system that has not given them success in the past.

Cultural Competence
Who are your students? What matters to them? Think more broadly than just what they like. What values and fears
shape their worldview? How does their worldview benefit them?
In the same vein, who are you as the teacher that stands before them? What shapes your world view? What are your
potential blindspots in being able to create culturally competent scholars?
People to help you answer the
Questions you might want to ask to help
Resources you can access to help
above questions
answer the questions above
answer the questions above

Please use the surveys in the Appendix of this document (or similar student surveys) to help you answer the above
questions related to students.
Refer to the self section to answer questions related to you.
My scholars are shaped by the world view that they are not treated fairly by the United States. They understand that
their education is important and that college is the goal because their school and parents tell them that daily. They also
understand that the crime, drugs, and violence that surround them are not what they want in their lives. They want
success and happiness, but I also find that they do not equate their everyday actions with the future consequences.
Instead, they often live in the moment. Many are motivated by school consequences, but most do not seem to be
inherently motivated to succeed academically. Instead, they have an inherent desire to succeed, but they do not seem
to act upon that desire in a consistent way. Scholars allow their peers to distract them and take away from their
education. Nonetheless, my scholars worldview benefits them because they do not take success for granted, and they
have genuine reason to be motivated to succeed in school.
As a teacher standing before my scholars, my world view is one that recognizes the injustices in our educational system
but that has never experienced them first hand. Instead, my hard work in school has always come naturally and hardly
ever needed to be encouraged. No one had to remind me why I should work hard in school; rather, most of my peers
worked hard in school. They grew up in a culture in which that was the norm. Additionally, I have had the privilege of
experiencing success as a result of my hard work. My parents were able to pay for me to go to college, and my hard
work in high school got me accepted. I was also able to work as hard as I did because I had few other concerns in my life.
I valued my family but did not feel much responsibility for them every day during my childhood. Instead, it was clear
that my parents could easily take care of me and give me what I needed.
One possible blind spot that my scholars may have is in regards to the culture and habit of focusing on school work
during school. My scholars are surrounded by the history and tendency of school failure. Because schools have failed
other students who came before them, my scholars do not know what success in school really feels like. They are stuck
in behavior patterns as simple as speaking when another person is speaking that do not lead to their success. To
make matters worse, these patterns are inherited from long periods of educational injustice. My scholars are not to
blame. They must just be helped.

Self
How are your background, values, and experiences reflected where you teach?
How are they similar/different? What brings you to this work? What are your passions?
To what extent do you hold culturally responsive dispositions (develop sociocultural consciousness, hold affirming
attitude, feel sense of responsibility, embrace constructivist teaching and learning, become familiar with students prior
knowledge, design instruction based on these dispositions)?
People to help you answer the
Questions you might want to ask to help
Resources you can access to help
above questions
answer the questions above
answer the questions above
Your friends and family, your MTLD, Who do I most value in my life?
Personality tests (The Learner
past managers, mentors and
What do I most value in my life?
Sketch, Meyers-Briggs, the Bird
colleagues, self-reflection
Why did I apply to TFA? Why do I stay in this Test, etc), prework for TFA
work?
related to identify and selfWhat is my personal long-term vision?
reflection
How do I like to spend my free time?
My values are most clearly reflected in my schools values in the way that Freedom Prep champions hard work and
effort over all else. We tell our scholars to work hard and go to college, and that they must have a growth mindset. In
my life, I have always had the same core values. Im driven still now by my desire to work hard and improve.
My experiences are different from where I teach because my education did not involve the same rigid structure that my
school uses. My peers and I were given more responsibility and freedom day to day.

The primary reason that I am a teacher at Freedom Prep Middle School is that I am passionate about working to create
more U.S. schools where students are able to achieve success through hard work. Im interested in the fact that the
United States does not currently have a school system where children are universally achieving and realizing their
success.
My teaching and disposition is culturally responsive because I have learned about and begun to understand the type of
structure and instruction that my scholars are used to receiving from their parents, and I understand what they expect
from an adult authority figure who cares about them. I try to fulfill those expectations by showing warm strictness
having high expectations and showing my love. I also try to be culturally responsive by respecting the topics that my
scholars are interested in and using it to teach them academic skills and show them how to interact critically with their
surroundings. This does not mean assuming that they like a certain sport or type of music; instead it means listening to
their conversations and finding more specific interests and concerns to help them address academically.

PART TWO: NAMING YOUR VISION AND GOALS

Academics: What assessment will your students take at the end of your course/the year? What is the class or individual
score(s) that must be achieved to truly open a door academically for kids? How do you know? Does the assessment you
will set your goal around measure the k/s/m to where you landed in part 1? How will you meaningfully engage students
throughout the year to achieve these outcomes? What teaching strategies will you use to create a culture of
achievement? How will you create a student centered classroom? What will student voice sound like in your room?
NJ ASK and PARCC are the two assessments I mentioned in Part 1, and my daily lessons are based on a backwards
plan from 6-week assessments that model the same knowledge, skills, and mindsets needed for these tests.
To achieve the outcomes needed on these assessments, I give my scholars consistent routines in my classroom
that focus around modeling and thinking aloud, followed by pair and independent practice. Finally, each class we
review scholars work together so that they receive feedback on their ideas and skills.
Cultural Competence (Traits and Mindsets, Reference Big 7- #5) In order to achieve this academic success and
access opportunities, what will your kids believe about themselves and their community? What is the proof that
they are critically conscious and are armed with the mindsets to continue to push bounds and boundaries beyond
your influence? What will their parents/families believe, understand, and be able to do?
To achieve academic success and access opportunities, my scholars will have to realize success and believe that
they have developed a habit of success. Occasional success is not enough to make it habitual. My scholars must be
held to extremely high standards so that they will learn what it feels like to meet those expec tations.
My scholars will prove that they are critically conscious when they can write about and criticize articles about
their community successfully and when they hold mature conversations among their peers without me even
having to direct them or explain the correct answers.
Beyond my influence, scholars face monetary and family limitations that their families cannot control. Some of
these limitations include an inability to pay for extra resources as well as a responsibility to take care of younger
siblings.
Parents of my scholars have extremely high expectations for their children academically and behaviorally. They
are able to provide discipline and space at home for scholars to complete their homework. Finally, parents can
remind scholars at home why they must work so hard in school every day.
Critical Consciousness (Reference Big 7- #6-7)- How will students practice and employ their cultural competence as
leaders in their schools and their community? How will you create space for them to engage with questions of power
and influence?

Students will have the opportunity to employ their cultural competence and engage with questions of
power and influence mostly through the class novels and smaller stories and articles that address
relevant themes. As scholars in my reading classes learn to analyze texts with literary skills, they also get
the opportunity to express their opinions and work together with classmates to solve cultural issues that
they recognize through their readings.

Pathways to Opportunity In addition to the opportunities this academic success will provide to kids, what other
opportunities or resources must be provided to them and their families? How and when will you provide these,
considering all community partners? What doors will be unlocked because your kids are culturally conscious? What will
this allow them to do for themselves and their community now and in the future?
Scholars must be provided with the resources and information that will help them get through high school and to
college. This may mean that they will need help with research and practice engaging in interviews and other
professional settings.
Additional love and support should also be provided to my scholars families by giving time to families, whether
on the phone to give homework help or as a ride home from school or a school event. I will also participate in
providing constructive activities for scholars to participate in outside of school. I will help provide these
opportunities for a different kind of learning and experience by helping to organize and by attending.
Being culturally conscious will make my scholars extremely valuable members of their community because they
will have the knowledge and skills that it will take to change the reputation of Camden. Critically conscious young
people are automatically viewed as intelligent because they are aware of their surroundings and able to analyze,
criticize, and articulate them.